Combined button-lap and stay for garments



(Model) 1). W. THOMPSON. I COMBINED BUTTON-LAP AND STAY FOR GARMENTS.N0. 250,604.

Patented D ec. 6,-1881.

ATTORNEYS.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICEQ DAVID WV. THOMPSON, OF ENGLEWOOD, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED BUTTON-LAP AND STAY FOR GARMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,604, dated December6, 18E1,

Application filed August 23, 1881.

.To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID W. THoMrsoN, ofEnglewood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented anew'and Improved Combined Button-Lap and Stay for Garments; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention relates to an improved combined button-lap and stay for theopenings in garments-such as the opening at the neck of a shirt, theopening in the front or sides of drawers, overalls, &c.; and it consistsin the combination, with the garment or body-piece having simply astraight slit cut in it where the opening is to be, of a single piece ofmaterial, which, when folded and stitched to the sides of said slit inthe manner hereinafter de scribed, constitutes both an upper and underbutton lap or fly, a facing, and a stay for reenforcing the bottom ofthe opening, making a finished piece of work without raw edges, ashereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings,Figurel represents the button-lap and stay complete andpartly opened. Fig. 2 is aview of the same in perspective, looking downinto the opening, showing also the two laps on opposite sides of theopening in crosssection, to illustrate the manner of folding the edges.Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section, through the button-laps, showing thetwo laps juxtaposed, or in the position in which they are fastenedtogether to close the opening by buttons and button-holes. Fig. atrepresents the shape of the piece of material to be inserted into theslit in the garment to form the two button-laps and the stay. Fig. 5represents the same piece as folded in position for the first line ofstitches which is to attach it to the garment; and Fig. 6 is aview ofthe garment having a straight slit cut in the same, and spread to formthe opening, in which view the first position of the piece, shown inFig. 5, is given in dotted lines, the said position being that which thepiece occupies when it is being attached to one of the sides of the slitby the first row of stitches.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, A represents the inner lining to theupper button-lap A, the adjacent lining to the under button-lap, and Bthe facing of the upper button-lap, all of which parts are made in onepiece, the parts (Model.)

A and A" being one continuous piece, with a bend at b in the bottom ofthe opening, which prevents the opening from ever tearing down, and thefacing B being extended down in the shape of a re-enforcing stay ortongue, 0.

To apply my invention the material of which the garment is composed isslitted to form an opening, the sides of which are then spread apart, asshown at a b c, Fig. 6. I then cut a piece of material of the shapeshown in Fig. 4. This pieceof material lfold longitudinally, with a bendat the line ab. Said piece then appears as shown at Fig. 5, and it isthen placed as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, and the folded edge a bis stitched down upon the'left-hand side of the opening. The widerportion, A A, is then passed through the openingto the back of thematerial D, is then bent or folded transversely at b j, and the edge b dis then stitched to the opposite edge, I) e, of the opening. The piece AA is now folded on itself to make the fold 7c 70, Fig. 2. under andstitched to the garment at if, Figs. 2 and 6, and the free edge gj'thenturned under and stitched to the free edge h h of the part B,Fig.6, andthe stitching then continued from h around the stayor tongue 0, as inFig. 1.

In applying my invention it may be placed at the neck of shirts, wherethey open, at the sides of childrens drawers, at the front of mensdrawers and overalls, or in any other place where a re-enforcedbutton-lap, opening, pocket, or placket is required. When used on mensdrawers the tongue 0 is carried back over the crotch-seam to re-enforceit.

Now, I am aware that it is not new to make the adjacent linings of thetwo button-laps in one piece, with atransverse bend in the middle, as atb, and I do not claim this, broadly.

I am also aware thataseparate stay has been applied to the button-lapsof a pair of drawers in which said stay-piece was slitted at one end,its wide end folded longitudinally on both sides of one of thebutton-laps, and its two divided ends stitched the one to the otherbutton-lap and the other across the crotch-seam. My invention isdistinctivefrom these in the respect that it is notto be applied tobutton-laps already made, but actually forms with the slitted materialthe button -lap itself with but a single piece of material, avoiding allraw edges and The edge gfis then turned securing all the advantages ofcontinuity of material at bin the bottom of the opening, and at the sametime forming the facing 13, to accomplish which results the part A isfolded longitudinally twice, while the part A B is folded longitudinallyfour times, giving terminal adjacent edges to A and B at the line wherethey form the edge of the upper fly, as at g It, Fig. 2.

In further defining my invention with respect to Patent No. 2%,265,Iwould state that the latter has the main body portion of the insertedpiece attached wholly to onebutton-lap, and with a bend instead ofterminal edges gh, and the stay-piece, instead of being outside andbelow the opening, is inside and extends upwardly. In my constructionthe stay-piece is a straight continuation of the facing, and the mainportion A is folded transversely to form both button-laps. In Patent No.242,023 an opening in a shirt has been finished with a strip of clothwhich formsthe edge of both sides of the opening and is continuous atthe bottom of the opening, while a separate piece forms a facing-stripand stay. My invention is distinctive from all the foregoing in the factthat a single piece of material is combined with the plain slittedgarment to form, without raw edges, an upper and underbutton-lap, afacing, and a stay, and in the fact that the two button-laps and facingare made of one piece, with terminal edges 9 h.

Instead of having the facingB narrower than the button-laps Aand A, itmay be of the same width, and when so made the line of fold a b, Fig. 4,will come in the middle of the piece of material.

Another modification which I may make is (see Fig. 2) not to sew theedges g and h together, but to fold them so as to form a double fly, Bbeing, in this case, the outer or blind fly, A the fly containing thebutton-holes, and A the fly carrying the buttons. This modification isdesigned for drawers and overalls, to prevent gaping.

Reverting to the description of that part of my invention relating tothe stitching of. the piece, Figs. 4 and 5, to the opening shown in Fig.6, I would state that the method given by me is the one which gives theclearest idea of how the fitting is-etl'ected. This may not,however, hethe most practical and expeditious way of attaching the said piece, forI may not fold the piece at I; f, but draw the edge e 1) into alignmentwith ab and then stitch straight from a to d, I therefore do not limitmyself to any particular mode of fitting the said piece to the opening.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, with the material of a garment having a simple slit in thesame, of a singlepiece ofmaterial cut, folded, and stitched,substantially as described, to form both the upper and under button-lap,with a continuous lining at I), and a facing, 13, the said facing B andlining A being arranged to have terminal edges 9 and h, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the material of a garment having a simple slitin the same, of a single piece of material, A A B a, folded and stitchedto the edges of the slitted opening, substantially as described, to formthe upper and under button-lap, with a continuous lining at b, a facing,13, and a stay at c, as set forth.

DAVID WALLACE THOMPSON.

WVitnesses HENRY W. THOMPSON, L. FAXON.

